In the merchandising of bottled beverages and the like, it has become popular to package such articles in quantities of four, six or eight. In addition to such packaging, it has become customary in numerous instances for economic and/or ecological reasons for the customer to pay a bottle deposit so as to encourage return of the empty bottles to the place of purchase. To facilitate the return of the empty bottles, it is desirable to carry same in a suitable carrier which is capable of handling all of the empty bottles in a safe and convenient manner.
Heretofore the return of the empty bottles often-times required a separate carrier, such as a paper or plastic bag, because the original carrier was mutilated and rendered unusable when the bottles were initially removed from the carrier. Such was the case particularly where the original carrier was a wrap-around type (sometimes referred to as a six-pack style) and the accommodated bottles were concealed within the carrier. In many instances the wrap-around type original carrier is preferred over the conventional basket-type because: (a) the wrap-around type carrier is of cheaper construction and easier to form and load; (b) it is neater and can be more attractive in appearance because of more area of graphics; (c) it provides better protection for the bottles against breakage and defacement, and the contents of the bottles are better protected against harmful light rays; and (d) it deterred accidental or willful removal of one or more bottles from the original carrier.
Various bottle carriers have heretofore been provided; however, they were incapable of being readily converted from a wrap-around type original carrier to a basket-type carrier for use in returning empty bottles. The prior carriers were awkward and uncomfortable to manually handle and required an inordinate amount of blank material. In addition, at least certain of the prior structures were inherently weak and unstable for stacking.